Testing now underway for JLTV prototype (hummer replacement)

[unhappycamper]

The JLTV prototype from Lockheed Martin on a test track June 3 at Aberdeen Test Center in Churchville, Md.


Testing now underway for JLTV prototype
By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jun 20, 2010 9:12:16 EDT

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program officials are now testing vehicle prototypes at Aberdeen Test Center, Md., and Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz.

They are searching for a vehicle both the Marine Corps and the Army intend to field in 2015; one that will be more mobile and reliable than a Humvee, but provide the protection of a Mine Resistant, Ambush-Protected vehicle.

Commandant Gen. James Conway, however, has called the program into question, saying industry has not yet developed a vehicle light enough to be carried by helicopter.

Among prototypes now being tested are models produced by BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and General Tactical Vehicle, a dual venture between AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems. Each company delivered prototypes across three weight classes in early May.

Over the next 12 months, the prototypes will undergo testing that will help complete program requirements in preparation for a full and open competition scheduled to begin next summer.



unhappycamper comment: Remember those MRAPS we bought two years ago? The were a million dollars a pop. And the best part? We flew them all to Iraq. They were too large to fit on ships so we loaded them up on airplanes and flew them.

I can hardly wait to see what these bad boys cost. Somebody sure stands to make a buck.

The main contenders? BAE, Lockheed Martin and General Tactical Vehicle (AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JLTV




HMMWV replacement process
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The HMMWV replacement process, now being undertaken by the US Military is an effort to replace the current AM General HMMWV. The HMMWV has evolved several times since its introduction, and is now used in tactical roles for which it was never originally intended. The US Military is currently pursuing several initiatives to replace it, both in the short and long term. The short term replacement efforts utilize COTS vehicles, while the long term efforts currently focus on building requirements for the HMMWV replacement and technology research and evaluation in the form of various prototype vehicles.


Short Term

In the short term, HMMWVs in service in Iraq are being replaced by Category 1 MRAP vehicles, primarily the Force Protection Cougar H and the International MaxxPro.<1> The US Marine Corps plans to replace all HMMWVs patrolling "outside the wire" with MRAP vehicles. The U.S. military began procuring a lighter vehicle under the MRAP All Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) program in 2009.<2>

Long Term


The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, a joint effort between the United States Army, USSOCOM, and the United States Marine Corps to build a replacement for the HMMWV in its role as a tactical vehicle has submitted an Initial Capabilities Document, and is seeking the approval of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Following that approval, they will begin to build a requirements list with the assistance and input of the FTTS program and the Office of Naval Research among others.<3><4>

The Office of Naval Research has selected General Dynamics Land Systems and Oshkosh Truck to build Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) mock-ups and conceptual designs, modeling and simulation to provide trade off analysis for the evaluation of future development of such vehicles.<4> It would be a family of light armored wheeled vehicles with combat capability to provide more protection than the HMMWV.
International FTTS UV Concept

The U.S. Military was seeking a long term replacement for the HMMWV under the Future Tactical Truck Systems (FTTS) program, which was seeking to introduce a Maneuver Sustainment Vehicle and a Utility Vehicle. Navistar International and Lockheed Martin's proposals for the Utility Vehicle were selected for competition as well as the Armor Holdings proposal for the Maneuver Sustainment Vehicle.<3> In August 2006 they were tested at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Following this evaluation they were parked in The Pentagon courtyard for evaluation by higher ranking military officials.

The Office of Naval Research has also funded several projects to research other technologies that may be implemented on the HMMWV replacement, including the Shadow RST-V and Georgia Tech's ULTRA AP, a combat concept vehicle based on the F350 chassis, but with a "blast bucket" passenger compartment, and Ultra 3T, a project with more advanced (but unproven) technologies.


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Thank you Ronnie Raygun!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMMWV

High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle

The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV or Humvee) is a military 4WD motor vehicle created by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles formerly served by smaller Jeeps such as the M151 1/4 ton MUTT, the M561 "Gama Goat", their M718A1 and M792 ambulance versions, the CUCV, and other light trucks. Primarily used by the United States military, it is also used by a number of other countries and organizations and in civilian adaptations.

~snip~

History

In the 1970s, the United States Army concluded that the militarized civilian trucks in use no longer satisfied their requirements. In 1977, Lamborghini developed the Cheetah model in attempt to meet the Army contract specifications. In 1979, the Army drafted final specifications for a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV. In July of that year, AM General (a subsidiary of American Motors Corporation) began preliminary design work, and less than a year later, the first prototype, the M998, was in testing.

In June 1981, the Army awarded AM General a contract for development of several more prototype vehicles to be delivered to the U.S. government for another series of tests, and the company was later awarded the initial production contract for 55,000 HMMWVs to be delivered in 1985. HMMWVs first saw combat in Operation Just Cause, the US invasion of Panama in 1989.


Wikipedia also gave a cost of $65,000 for an unarmored version and $140,000 for an armored version.

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I'll bet the new JLTV comes in closer to a million dollars. I mean, come on, you want a major Military Industrial Complex player to produce things for less than a cool million a pop? What's the sense in that?

Oshkosh won the the big bucks with the MRAP contract. Time to give someone else some more big bucks.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. So when will we see the civilian version

in our local Walmart parking lot?

[Javaman]

3. When chinamart gets their own private security army. nt

[leveymg]

2. Cost per unit - Jeep (late) - $15,000; HUMVEE - $150,000; JLTV - $1.5 mil. Pattern here?

[arcadian]

4. This sounds ominous

"both the Marine Corps and the Army intend to field in 2015"